Miami Dolphins Lock In First-Round Linebacker Jaelan Phillips

The rebuild in South Beach continues to go according to plan as the Miami Dolphins officially signed rookie Jaelan Phillips, the No. 18 pick and former linebacker for the Miami Hurricanes.

Phillips announced on Wednesday that he has signed a four-year, $14 million rookie contract with the Dolphins. The agreement is fully guaranteed with a signing bonus of $7.8 million.

At 6’5", 266 pounds, Jaelan Phillips comes in at a great size for a quick, brute edge rusher. In his final season with the Hurricanes, Phillips started 10 games and produced 45 tackles, eight sacks, and one interception.

A new regime spearheaded by head coach Brian Flores and the much-anticipated Tua Tagovailoa watches as Miami's roster piles on a depth of valuable role players on both sides of the ball to help them reach the next level in the NFL.

With the No. 6 pick, the Dolphins selected WR Jaylen Waddle. Via the infamous Laremy Tunsil trade that proved to be a rolling snowball of highly valuable draft picks, the Miami Dolphins went into the draft with two picks in Round 1 (6, 18) and two additional selections in Round 2 (36, 42). With the Phillips and Waddle picks, the Dolphins look to develop a new class of rookie talent to finally get past division rivals such as New England and Buffalo in a heated contest for the AFC East title.